


Memento mei - remember me

by darkmoore



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Ancient Technology, M/M, Same-Sex Marriage, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:59:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5976108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmoore/pseuds/darkmoore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John wakes up in an unfamiliar place with no memories of the last ten years of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memento mei - remember me

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be for the "metal" challenge over at flashworks on LJ. I started too late and it didn't get finished in time for posting. So, I'll just post it here instead.
> 
> Thank you, BRUMEIER for the speedbeta.

John looked down at his left hand, the plain platinum band around his ring finger an unfamiliar sight. It wasn’t the ring Nancy had put there. But he couldn’t remember who else he might have married, either. Truth be told, he couldn’t remember the last ten years of his life – that was the estimation the doctor had made. His head hurt like a motherfucker, he was in an unfamiliar sickbay, and he was surrounded by strangers. All things considered he should be freaking out. But the low grade hum that seemed to vibrate through him was strangely soothing. As if something was trying to calm him down and reassure him. 

A man appeared in the doorway to his closed-off room, and John tried to remember if he belonged to the medical staff that had been swarming around him earlier that day. He remembered a doctor with a Scottish accent and kind eyes, a pretty dark haired nurse, and a female doctor who was sort of bland. But the guy who was now standing in the doorway, looking a little lost – John was sure he hadn’t seen him before. 

He was attractive in a non-classical way. He had big blue eyes, and a mouth that tilted unhappily downward on one side. His hands were clasped together behind his back, and John somehow got the impression he wasn’t used to holding them still – the tense lines of his shoulders looked way too uncomfortable to be natural. 

“Is everything alright, sir?” John asked, unsure how to address the stranger. He didn’t seem to be his CO, though he was wearing a uniform John couldn’t identify, but better be safe than sorry. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”

The stranger swallowed visibly, going slightly pale. “My name is Dr. Rodney McKay. I mean … I’m Rodney. I … I…” He broke off, looking miserable. 

John’s stomach twisted. If this was one of his physicians and he was looking at him like this, surely he had bad news for John. “So, you’re here to tell me what’s wrong with me, Doctor? Can you tell me why I can’t remember anything about where I am and-” He winced and gestured at the ring on his own hand. “Who I’m apparently married to?”

“I’m not a medical doctor. Do I look like I’m wasting my time practicing Voodoo? No, that’s Carson’s job. He’s the one with the Scottish accent? You might remember seeing him earlier.” 

The guy’s … Rodney’s hands soared through the air, before stilling. He looked down as he twisted the ring on his left hand. A ring, John realized, that was identical to the one he was wearing himself. 

Dammit. 

“I’m married to _you_?” John hated how shocked he sounded, how disbelieving. But the last thing he remembered was that he could have ended up with a court martial and jail time for being openly gay in the military. When exactly had that changed?

McKay blanched even more and hurt rushed over his face for a split second, but it was gone again as fast as it had appeared. Instead there was cool indifference. Only his eyes gave away how much John’s reaction had affected him. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-” John said but McKay held up his hand and interrupted him. 

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You’re not the first to wonder how someone as ridiculously attractive as you, who could have anyone at all, ended up marrying ‘geek boy’. Believe me, I’ve heard it all. It’s not as if it’s a huge secret that everyone thought you’d end up with someone a little less … arrogant and abrasive. Even though you being CO of ‘this base’ cut your options a bit short. I’ve always thought…” 

John didn’t get to know what Rodney thought because he abruptly shut his mouth, cutting his own nervous rambling short. 

John’s head spun. He was CO? He of all people? Someone had trusted him with a whole base and command over hundreds of men? It boggled the mind. 

“I should go,” McKay finally said. 

“No, please. Stay. I need some answers and the doctor - Carson I think you called him - he refuses to give them to me. I need to know what happened. And I want to be with someone who knows me. I married you, that means I trust you. I think you can help me. I have no idea how I know that, but …” The hum under his skin turned into a tingle and John cast an uneasy look around himself. What the hell was going on? 

Rodney frowned. “Atlantis, stop that. You’re confusing him,” Rodney said to no one in particular. Unless ‘Atlantis’ was invisible. 

“Who the hell is Atlantis and what the fuck is going on here? Where am I? Why can’t I remember what happened to me?” John cursed under his breath when the throbbing in his head intensified. 

“That is quite enough, Rodney.” Carson bustled in and pushed Rodney out of the way. “You’re not supposed to overextend yourself, lad. You need your energy to get better. Rodney can come back later. You need to rest now.” There was physician-typical authority in his voice, as if he was used to dealing with the two of them – which in all honesty was likely the case. 

“I don’t want to rest. I want answers,” John protested stubbornly. 

“And you will get them once you are more rested, and Rodney has had a chance to figure out how to fix whatever the hell the … thing has done to you. But for now, you need to sleep.” He emptied a syringe into the IV line going into John’s arm, and John felt himself dropping like a stone. The pain in his head vanished, along with every coherent thought.

* * *

“… don’t actually know, Carson, but we need to try. I want John back. My John, not some pod person who looks at me like… never mind. He’s waking up.” Rodney’s voice cut through the fog that had taken up residence in John’s head. 

“John, lad, how are you feeling?” Carson asked, and shone an annoying penlight into John’s eyes. John tried to bat his hand away, without much success. 

“I still can’t remember,” John complained. It was true. Where his memory should be was still a big, gaping hole. 

“I think I can help with that,” Rodney said and shoved a metallic cylinder into John’s hands. John looked at him, puzzled. 

“Think ‘on’,” Rodney instructed. 

“Huh?” John had no idea what Rodney was talking about. “What do you mean, ‘on’?”

The cylinder in John’s hands began to flash and glow, and John dropped it onto the bed, startled. A second later his head felt as if someone was drilling a hole through his temples. Nausea swamped him and the room began to spin, but in the next moment everything just … stopped. He blinked and … his memories were back. All of them. It was such a strange feeling. 

“Whoa. Rodney, what the hell?” John said, shaking his head as if to clear it. 

“It’s a memory storage device. But it malfunctioned, obviously. I don’t think it’s supposed to take them all away, incapacitating the user. I mean, I suppose you could try and get rid of some really unpleasant memories that way, but, um, I think it was broken. Erasing a person’s hard drive, so to speak, is never a good idea. As we saw… in any case, I fixed it.” He looked insecure and a little desperate; a look John wasn’t used to seeing on his husband’s face. 

John leaned forward and flung himself at Rodney, burying his face in the crook of Rodney’s neck. “I missed you, Mer. I can’t believe I forgot you,” John whispered. How long would it take to repair the damage the damn device had done to their marriage? Forgetting you were married tended to suck. A lot. 

“It’s not your fault, John.” Rodney patted John’s back awkwardly, and a slight shudder ran through his body. 

John inwardly cursed the Ancients to hell and back. Stupid fucking idiots with their dangerous toys. “No, but you got hurt anyway.” 

“John, provided that you have no lasting after-effects from the use of the device, I will let you go and rest in your room. Rodney, I’m putting you on medical leave, too. You didn’t get any sleep at all during the last two days. You both could use the time together.”

Carson’s tone brooked no argument. 

“What do you say, wanna go to our quarters and test my memory of what you like best in bed?” John whispered in Rodney’s ear. Then he leaned back a bit and grinned at Carson. “I could do with a nap and a snuggle with my husband. Best damn prescription I’ve had in a long time.”

Rodney blushed and looked indignant. “I’m a grown man. I don’t cuddle.”

John smiled. “You tell yourself that, buddy.” He pressed a soft kiss to Rodney’s lips and turned to address Carson again. “Do your thing, Doc. I’m more than ready to get out of here”

Carson shook his head and reached for a scanner. “You’re gonna be the death of me one day,” he complained and started his examination. 

John smiled. He had his memories back, and Rodney had once again saved the day. He’d have to make sure to thank him for that – thoroughly.


End file.
